RichM

Classic, but hang on, what's that noise? That's right! You've just won €250 billion of IMF loans!

I kept waiting for a screaming banshee or something to burst out at me but it didn't happen. I feel on edge and confused. In fact, a zombie attack would have been more relaxing. I definitely do not feel like magnificence.

Those figures of only 1% were clearly nonsense.

Yeah, but what's the bad news?

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Tesco delivery service has been pretty good, and the wife gets all the ingredients she needs from them. Haven't done a comparison with Lidl or Aldi but can they do the deliveries of all the basics? Waitrose does nice stuff but we laugh at the other customers, they always look as miserable as sin.

Or the UK government, AKA the BoE, has never bought so much of its own debt before.

But there is no union or voice for shareholders, other than politicians who get how free market economics work. Cameron isn't hard he's being entirely fair. If someone is that good, like a --duck and cover-- Steve Jobs figure, then who cares how much he earns. He delivers shed loads of great products, turns a company around, creates shed loads of jobs, creates business for programmers, factory workers etc etc. Rich individuals are not stopping me from building a house on a patch of land I've bought. The only thing they might be doing is encouraging the BoE to keep rates low, but to be honest that is supported by vast swatches of the UK population, ultimately to our detriment.

Good points Thod, but as you've pointed out, in practice shareholders still don't get a say - if that's not happening, then the system needs changing. I don't see how that's not just basic capitalism. The back-scratching has to stop, it is appalling. Poor Adam Smith, he must be rolling in his grave. Facilitating shareholders voting together is essential, the current system is like denying enployees the right to form unions. As for the Tobin tax, it's just a way of the Euroelites engorging themselves - it may dissuade the high speed traders, but it would still be at the expense of pension funds, individuals et al. A richer EU is not something the world needs, pension funds need that money. If line speed is that important, that the LSE, wall street etc need to impose some kind of time delay to stop a section of traders acting as spivs. But as ever I'm showing my ignorance, there may be some really important financial role the high speed types perform...

This makes a lot more sense than a Tobin Tax. If you have capital, ie shares, you own part of that company, it is in a very literal sense "yours", your capital, you call the shots. I cannot believe this power is not already in place. Nice downward pressure on director pay.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/economics/8993215/Hungary-faces-crisis-as-traders-fear-bond-debt-default.html

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/comment/ambroseevans_pritchard/8987846/Ambrose-Evans-Pritchard-2012-could-be-the-year-Germany-lets-the-euro-die.html He leans towards more QE (I think), doesn't see it coming, therefore we're back to the 30s. A couple of slightly less cheery paragraphs:

In 2008 prices dropped 18% without high IRs, unemployment etc. There is no good news on the horizon, with the possible exception of Brazil. The Eurozone is about to trigger anothet credit crunch - no workable solutions have been offered. Once the spotlight of attention moves over to the UK, we really won't look great. Our public sector is being slowly but steadily cut back, no one has any cash, and our export market is about to dry up. The demographics are poor. The BoE and the Treasury can only do so much before sterling weakens and they have to up rates. Run away inflation would destroy us.

what, no tin opener? What about a set of scales, for weighing out their gold?

Amazing. Does this engine run on petrol or diesel?

So do you think that QE has really been about protecting the pound and UK bonds, rather than its stated effect of "stimulating" the economy? Scary stuff.

Come friendly bond markets...

Brilliant. Nice one euro.

I thought this thread was going to be about Bruno.

lol! but yes, +1

Not a black swan, but certainly fairly off the radar for TPTB. If I was Irish, I'd go the Icelandic route. With their low taxes, and promiximity to Europe, they wouldn't need to be in the Euro anymore.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financialcrisis/8911146/Ireland-demands-debt-relief-warns-on-EU-treaties.html

Once upon a time politicians and economists really did worry about keeping inflation under control. Seems an eternity ago now.